10 things to look for in a Homeschool Spanish Curriculum

I often get asked “What makes for a good homeschool Spanish curriculum?” In today’s post, I go over the top ten things to look for in just that. Please keep in mind these are in no particular order.

1) Age Appropriate

- Not too complex – one of the easiest things to do is to think because you can understand it, your kids can too.

- Not too simple – another common error is not challenging your kids enough.

- Generally the curriculum should state the target age audience

- Generally the curriculum should be more pictorial for younger students and eventually introduce more words as students mature and learn more of their native language.

2) Goal Satisfaction

- What are your goals? Are you trying to introduce a foreign language to your child or are you trying to get them to be fluent?

- A high school curriculum that is designed for completion of the material is going to look and feel a lot different to a program geared towards conversation.

3) Cumulative

- It builds on itself. You want a program that builds on itself and the material that it presents regularly.

- Consistent review of older material. Practice makes perfect.

- Be careful that it doesn’t introduce new concepts without covering them however, because that leads to confusion.

4) Understandable

- This also ties into the age appropriateness

- Directions are in Spanish or English?

- Who’s teaching it? A Spanish speaker or a non-Spanish speaker? If you are a Homeschool mother who feels that Spanish might not be a strength, then maybe you want to see more directions in English. It will most certainly help the student.

5) Practicality

- Ask yourself, is this something that my child will honestly do everyday?

- Will this fit into your life?

- Is it flexible?

- Is it convenient?

6) Application

- Is the student being forced to use the foreign language?

- Is the student being forced to use the foreign language with a native speaker?

- Application is key and a necessary piece to the language learning process.

7) Extra Practice

- After the lesson, is the student getting enough practice outside of the lesson?

- Is there homework associated with each lesson that drills and solidifies concepts?

- For younger students are their activities and games associated with the lessons?

8) Feedback

- Is the student receiving feedback from the curriculum.

- There are different forms of feedback such as an answer book, computer response, correction from a person, or correction from a live native Spanish speaking instructor.

9) Progress Tracking

- Are their quizzes and tests?

- Are they graded?

- How many are there and how are they graded?

- Do you have access to the grades?

- What do those grades mean? Does that mean that they are learning or not learning?

10) Easily Accessible

- Do you have access to the program whenever you would like?

- Who are the people behind the program? What drives them? Do they care about the progress and quality of your child’s Spanish education.